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St.  Mark's  Sixtieth  Anniversary 

1850-1910 


CATHEDRAL  STONES 


A  Discourse  delivered  by 


Rev.    Spencer   S.    Roche,    D.D 


I    N 

ST.   MARK'S  CHURCH 

BROOKLYN 

Sunday,     December     II,      1910 

At  the  Unveiling  of  Mural  Fragments 
from  Glastonbury,  Gloucester,  Hereford, 
Canterbury  and  IVestminster     ^      ^ 


"^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    by  £)>(p<^\n  C^cSY' S  .~¥-?OC.VnO  ^3D  :.D, 
Section  ..i.Q.Q.  .P*^ 


OCT  19  1911 


"^^OEinM  ^vli\^V^ 


CATHEDRAL  STONES 

/4  Discourse  delivered  by 

y 

Rev.    Spencer    S.    Roche,    D.D 

I    N 

ST.   MARK'S  CHURCH 

BROOKLYN 
Sunday,     December      II,      1910 

At  the  Unveiling  of  Mural  Fragments 
from  Glastonbury,  Gloucester,  Hereford, 
Canterbury  and  Westminster      j*      e^ 


PRESS    OF    HUNTER    COLLINS,    INC. 

138    LIVINGSTON    STREET 

BROOKLYN,   N.  Y. 

1911 


CATHEDRAL  STONES 


"What  mean  ye  by  these  stones  ?" — Joshua  4 :6. 

The  erection  of  monuments  to  commemorate  notable  achieve- 
ments is  as  old  as  the  history  of  the  race.  The  divine  sanction  is 
here  given  to  the  custom.  Israel  entering  the  promised  land  by 
walking  on  the  bed  of  the  River  Jordan,  was  to  place  a  heap  of 
stones  that  would  perpetuate  the  teachings  of  the  event.  The 
River  Jordan  by  the  command  of  Jehovah,  was  dried  up  to  assure 
the  people  once  more,  as  at  the  Red  Sea  where  the  waters  had 
been  parted  and  Pharoah  overthrown,  that  the  divine  favor  was 
with  them.  Picture  the  scene :  Descending  from  the  uplands 
which  lay  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  and  leaving  the  groves  of  acacia, 
they  reached  the  river's  brink.  It  was  the  spring  of  the  year  and 
the  river  was  at  its  flood,  the  waters  reaching  to  the  tangled 
thicket  growth  on  either  bank.  As  the  priests  advanced  with  the 
ark,  the  swelling  tide  was  stayed.  In  the  striking  words  of  Dean 
Stanley:  "High  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  parts  of  Kirjathjearim, 
thirty  miles  above  the  place  of  the  encampment,  the  waters  stood, 
and  rose  up  as  if  in  a  barrier  or  heap,  as  if  congealed,  and  the 
waters  that  descended  towards  the  sea  of  the  desert,  the  salt 
sea,  failed  and  were  cut  off."  Almost  from  the  Sea  of  Tiberias 
to  the  Dead  Sea,  Jordan's  channel  lay  open.  By  the  banks  the 
sedge  and  pebbles  appeared,  while  in  the  muddy  bottom  amid 
stream,  ancient  boulders  were  uncovered.  Where  the  deepest 
tides  had  rushed,  now  stood  the  priests  uplifting  the  Ark  of  the 
Tabernacle,  their  feet  in  the  ooze  or  sand.  To  their  right  as 
they  looked  westward  to"  their  new  home,  Jordan's  billows  were 
restrained;  to  their  left  rushed  the  people  tumultuous,  fearful 
lest  the  strange  control  of  the  river  should  suddenly  cease.  As 
their  eyes  lighted  on  the  priests  and  the  Ark,  and  they  thought 
these  must  be  carried  down  first,  they  regained  confidence.     The 

3 


army,  the  women,  the  children,  the  sick  and  lame,  with  their 
herds  and  flocks,  all  crossed  safely.  Once  more  Jehovah  had 
fulfilled  His  promise,  and  the  tribes  had  conquered  fear. 

Of  this  event  Jehovah  commanded  there  should  be  a  memorial. 
The  twelve  chiefs  of  tribes  were  told  to  take  each  from  the 
channel  of  the  Jordan,  a  stone,  and  to  bear  it  aloft  on  their 
shoulders  before  the  priests,  as  they  left  the  river  bed.  Lying 
unseen  for  ages  and  this  day  exposed  to  the  sun,  these  stones 
were  to  be  built  together  into  a  monument  on  the  high  ground 
west  of  the  Jordan.  Right  there  at  Gilgal  was  the  first  spot 
pronounced  "Holy"  in  the  new  land,  and  there  the  Tabernacle 
stood  till  it  was  taken  to  Shiloh.  How  long  did  this  cairn  remain? 
We  cannot  say,  but  scholars  remind  us  that  fourteen  hundred 
years  later,  John'  the  Baptist  was  preaching  in  Judea  at  Betha- 
bara,  the  place  where  the  people  had  passed  over,  as  he  baptized 
the  people  unto  repentance.  It  may  have  been  this  very  historic 
pile  he  pointed  to  when  he  said,  "God  is  able  of  these  stones  to 
raise  up  children  unto  Abraham."  What  we  do  know  is  that 
God  appointed  these  twelve  stones  to  remain  for  the  children's 
children  of  these  wanderers,  in  order  that  the  lesson  of  His  ever- 
lasting faithfulness  to  His  promises,  might  sound  on  through 
coming  generations. 

So  we,  entering  on  our  celebration  of  the  sixtieth  year,  place 
five  stones  beside  our  Font  and  Pulpit.  Like  those  on  the 
bottom  of  the  Jordan,  they  are  in  themselves  eloquent  me- 
morials. They  have  intrinsic  meaning.  Instead  of  being 
buried  beneath  a  river's  waves,  they  have  been  for  centuries  in 
the  walls  of  certain  of  the  most  renowned  churches  in  Christen- 
dom. They  were  secured  by  the  Rector  during  a  visit  to  England 
in  the  summer  of  1906.  He  personally  obtained  each  fragment. 
Let  me  first  speak  of  their  physical  properties ;  then  of  their 
historical  suggestions ;  then  of  their  prophetic  teachings.  The 
stone  from  Glastonbury  Abbey  has  a  rough,  rectangular  form, 
something  like  five  inches  in  length  by  three  inches  in  width. 
It  is  heavy,  indurated,  having  been  long  exposed  to  the  elements. 
On  one  side  is  ^  deep  groove,  perhaps  a  mason's  device  to  secure 

4 


the  stone  in  cement.  The  stone  from  Gloucester  Cathedral  is 
triangular,  with  a  sharp  edge  at  the  back,  rudely  axform,  having 
on  the  face  two  flat  grooves  as  if  scraped  or  tooled  in  the  rough, 
soft,  gritty,  white-yellow  sandstone.  The  stone  from  Hereford 
Cathedral  is  quite  hard,  blue-gray,  flat,  having  one  side  smooth, 
the  other  rough.  It  appears  to  be  a  fine  conglomerate.  The  stone 
from  Westminster  Abbey  is  larger  than  the  others,  and  forms  a 
rounded  volute,  or  molding,  or  cornice.  The  face  is  weather- 
stained  but  not  like  the  Glastonbury  stone,  this  being  simply 
blackened  with  London  soot  and  fog,  the  stone  underneath  remain- 
ing smooth.  In  texture  this  stone  resembles  that  from  Gloucester, 
a  yellow,  coarse  sandstone,  almost  chalky,  a  fine  dust  coming  oflf 
wherever  the  hand  touches  the  newly-broken  surface.  From 
Canterbury  we  have  a  fragment  of  reddish  tile,  with  two  smooth 
sides,  one  foot-worn. 

Now  for  a  little  history.  The  Abbey  of  Glastonbury,  Somer- 
setshire, England,  represented  to-day  by  a  few  crumbling  walls, 
is  so  old  that  its  beginning  is  clouded  with  fable.  It  was  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  earliest  spots  where  the  Gospel  was  preached  in 
England.  Mr.  Freeman  says :  "It  is  on  any  showing,  a  tie 
between  the  Briton  and  the  Englishman,  between  the  older 
Christianity  of  our  island  and  the  newer,  the  one  church  of  the 
first  rank  which  lived  through  the  storm  of  English  conquest, 
which  passed  into  the  hands  of  our  victorious  fathers  as  a  trophy 
of  victory,  undestroyed  and  unplundered."  The  monks  declared 
that  the  first  church  of  Glastonbury  was  a  little  wattled  or 
thatched  building,  erected  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  as  the  leader 
of  the  twelve  apostolic  missionaries  sent  over  to  Briton  from 
Gaul  by  St.  Philip.  About  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  later, 
two  missionaries  were  sent  by  Pope  Eleutherius  to  the  British 
king,  Lucius.  These  established  a  monastery,  where  three  hun- 
dred years  later,  St.  Patrick  introduced  a  very  strict  rule.  In 
the  eighth  century,  the  great  West  Saxon  King  Ine,  greatly  en- 
larged the  monastery.  When  the  Danes  invaded  England  the 
church  suffered,  but  it  was  nobly  restored  by  Dunstan,  appointed 
abbot  not  long  before  the  year  950.     I  pass  over  the  feuds  and 

5 


squabbles  of  the  monks  of  Glastonbury  with  other  not  over 
religious  clerics.  Enough  to  say  that  the  popes,  and  especially 
the  great  Pope  Innocent  III.,  found  it  necessary  to  interfere  in 
the  interests  of  peace.  Nor  shall  I  mention  the  shameful  ar- 
raignment and  execution  of  the  sixtieth  abbot  of  Glastonbury, 
Robert  Whiting,  one  of  the  ablest  and  purest  churchmen  of  his 
day.  Within  the  church,  it  was  claimed,  were  the  tombs  of  King 
Arthur  and  St.  Dunstan.  With  the  Norman  Conquest  the  new 
rulers  resolved  to  build  a  far  finer  church.  After  this  in  turn 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  Henry  XL,  King  of  England,  entered 
upon  the  construction  of  a  magnificent  edifice.  From  those  walls, 
erected  about  seven  hundred  years  ago,  this  stone  has  been  taken, 
having  for  ages  lain  in  the  wall  of  St.  Joseph's  Chapel. 

The  stone  from  Gloucester  is  likewise  from  one  of  the  oldest 
foundations  in  England.  The  first  Christian  king  of  Mercia, 
Wulphere,  about  670  built  a  nunnery,  which  in  the  lapse  of  the 
centuries  developed  into  a  very  striking  architectural  mass.  I 
will  not  speak  of  the  splendor  of  the  present  building,  the  cloisters 
with  their  exquisite  fan-vaulting  having  no  rival  in  England. 
Let  me  rather  connect  this  old  foundation  with  the  Christianity 
of  to-day.  That  fragment  may  have  been  seen  and  even  touched, 
by  a  man  who  gathers  into  his  experience  and  spirit  almost  every 
element  of  our  Church's  present  grandeur.  John  Hooper  became 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  in  1550:  He  discharged  his  duty  with  a 
diligence,  zeal  and  self-sacrifice  shown  by  very  few  bishops  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church.  Perhaps  no  man  comes  nearer 
to  the  exquisite  creation  by  Victor  Hugo,  of  the  bishop  who  by 
the  spirit  of  his  divine  Master,  redeemed  Jean  Valjean.  It  was 
Hooper's  custom  to  preach  three  or  four  times  a  day  in  the 
towns  and  villages  of  his  diocese.  His  wife  implored  his  friends 
to  urge  him  to  do  less  work  in  order  that  his  Hfe  might  not  be 
prematurely  poured  out.  He  made  the  closest  inquiry  into  the 
learning,  diligence,  doctrine,  behaviour  and  worldly  condition  of 
his  clergy.  Wherever  a  priest  was  not  receiving  an  appropriate 
stipend,  he  augmented  his  living  out  of  his  own  income.  In  the 
hall  of  his  palace,  he  supplied  a  dinner  daily  to  the  poor  of  Glou- 


cester,  sittinc;^  down  on  the  benches  and  sharing  it  with  theni. 
When  Edward  VI.  died  and  Queen  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  he 
was  arrested,  kept  prisoner  for  eighteen  months,  tried  for  being 
a  heretic,  condemned  to  death,  and  two  weeks  later  was  burned 
ahve  at  the  stake  before  his  own  cathedral!  Not  far  from  the 
room  in  which  Hooper  spent  the  night  before  his  death,  stands 
a  house,  timber-framed,  where  Robert  Raikes,  the  founder  of 
our  Sunday  Schools  lived  and  worked. 

The  flat,  blue  stone  is  from  the  singularly  beautiful  Cathedral 
of  Hereford,  which  exhibits,  architects  tell  us,  almost  every  step 
in  the  successive  development  of  what  is  known  as  the  Old 
English  Style.  What  is  more  to  our  purpose,  Hereford  reminds 
us  of  the  turbulent  and  warlike  conditions  of  the  age.  The  old 
Saxon  ruler,  Offa,  lived  not  far  from  here.  In  the  neighborhood, 
he  murdered  Ethelbert ;  on  the  hills  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  are 
the  ruins  of  certain  Norman  castles,  whose  lawless  barons  had 
constant  battlings  with  one  another. 

The  tiling  is  from  one  of  the  most  fascinating  and  sacred 
spots  in  the  religious  world.  We  have  all  heard  of  the  glories  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral.  Here  is  the  official  residence  of  the  arch- 
bishop and  primate  of  all  England,  the  head  of  the  Anglican 
Church  throughout  the  world.  In  its  immense  size,  freshness  of 
aspect,  endless  vistas,  and  in  its  history,  the  structure  is  one  of 
the  most  notable  ever  erected  in  any  land.  On  this  ground  it  is 
believed  that  a  Christian  church  was  built  in  Roman-British  times 
by  King  Lucius.  Persecution  arising,  the  Christians  were  driven 
out  and  their  edifice  turned  into  a  Pagan  temple.  W^hen  St. 
Augustine  came  to  England  in  the  sixth  century,  King  Ethelbert 
bestowed  upon  him  this  building,  which  had  again  become  a 
church.  By  the  Norman  Conquest,  1066,  the  old  foundation  had 
almost  disappeared.  Lanfranc,  the  first  Norman  archbishop,  set 
about  the  erection  of  a  cathedral.  Finished  in  1130,  this  structure 
was  burned  in  1174,  standing  therefore  but  forty-four  years. 
Just  four  years  before  its  destruction,  martyr's  blood  stained  the 
walls.  The  king,  Henry  II.,  was  enraged  at  certain  acts  of  the 
archbishop,  Thomas  Becket.    Four  barons  thought  they  would 

7 


serve  the  king's  will  by  making  way  with  the  prelate.  They  came 
in  by  a  side  door  while  the  archbishop  with  his  assistants  was 
reading  the  vesper  service.  His  friends  urged  Becket  to  stop  the 
service  and  run  into  the  vault  under  the  sanctuary,  or  to  ascend 
to  the  roof,  by  a  secret  staircase  in  one  of  the  great  columns. 
With  characteristic  courage  he  refused,  and  facing  his  assailants 
was  cut  down,  between  the  Chapel  of  St.  Benedict  and  the  pas- 
sage to  the  crypt.  What  is  believed  to  be  the  exact  spot  where 
he  fell,  is  marked  by  a  small  square  incision  in  the  pavement.  A 
mighty  wave  of  indignation  swept  over  the  country,  and  indeed 
over  western  Christendom.  The  king  by  the  severest  penance 
endeavored  to  make  it  clear  that  he  was  not  responsible  for  the 
saint's  death,  and  he  immediately  set  about  the  erection  of  the 
present  edifice  which  we  believe  to  be  far  more  magnificent  than 
that  sanctified  by  the  death  of  this  great  churchman,  though  not 
perhaps  at  every  point  prudent  man.  Yonder  red  stone  has  been 
taken  from  the  crypt  of  St.  Benedict,  within  a  very  few  feet  of 
the  spot  where  the  archbishop  fell. 

Our  last  stone  is  from  Westminster  Abbey.  On  the  low 
ground  by  the  left  bank  of  the  Thames,  on  a  point  of  land  over- 
grown with  thorns  and  nearly  surrounded  by  water,  a  church  in 
honor  of  St.  Peter  is  believed  to  have  been  erected  by  Sebert, 
the  Anglo-Saxon  king  about  616.  No  need  to  recount  any  of  the 
history:  it  is  writ  large  upon  the  entire  structure  of  English 
feudalism,  royalty,  liberty  and  progress. 

But  enough  of  the  material  objects.  What  of  their  teachings? 
Why  place  these  rocks  in  this  St.  Mark's  Church  in  Brooklyn 
as  we  commemorate  our  founding  sixty  years  ago?  Glastonbury 
should  teach  us  to  deserve  and  to  expect,  and  to  prepare  for  long 
life.  Churches  are  planted  to  live  and  grow.  Glastonbury  stands 
for  the  bringing  into  England  of  the  Gospel,  when  our  British 
forefathers  were  still  under  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
and  possibly  not  long  after  the  ascension  of  our  Lord.  Just  how 
long  it  is  since  that  stone  was  quarried  and  set  in  the  sacred  wall, 
we  cannot  tell,  but  we  are  certainly  dealing  with  a  vast  stretch 
of  time.     What  better  expression  in  visible  form  could  we  have 

8 


of  the  perpetuity  of  the  Church?  What  a  fulfihnent  of  Christ's 
words, — "On  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it!"  St.  Mark's  Church  is  needed 
now  and  on  this  very  spot.  He  who  imagines  America  will  out- 
grow the  Gospel,  reckons  not  with  the  spiritual  instinct  of  the 
human  mind,  nor  with  the  shrewd  common  sense  of  the  American 
people,  nor  with  their  Anglo-Saxon  liking  for  law  and  order, 
nor  with  the  conspicuous  failure  of  the  systems  that  rest  on 
superstition  or  on  the  negations  of  unbelief.  Nor  yet  does  he 
recollect  over  how  many  obstacles  Christianity  has  triumphed 
since  she  emerged  from  the  Catacombs  and  laid  the  first  stones 
in  the  walls  of  her  earliest  edifices.  As  we  complete  sixty  years, 
we  may  well  build  into  these  walls,  that  which  should  remind  us 
and  whoever  may  worship  within  these  sacred  precincts,  that  the 
Church  has  the  promise  of  everlasting  life,  of  absolute  security 
against  evil,  and  all  because  the  Church  is  the  body,  in  this  world, 
of  Jesus  Christ,  "who  is  the  same  yesterday,  today  and  forever." 
Human  devotion  may  be  so  weak  that  the  Church  in  any  given 
locality  may  lose  its  virility  and  die  and  be  forgotten.  But  this 
memorial  should  teach  us  that  if  we  show  the  fidelity  that  every 
Christian  should  exhibit,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  good  that  the 
Church  of  God  may  accomplish  right  here.  The  Church  abides. 
At  many  an  hour  of  disappointment  and  defeat,  she  may  seem 
about  to  die,  but  wherever  man  does  his  part  the  Church  lives  on, 
instinct  with  the  eternity  of  goodness,  immortal  with  the  life 
of  God. 

Quite  different  is  the  admonition  from  Gloucester.  Here  let 
us  think,  not  so  much  of  our  heritage  from  the  past  as  of  our 
blessings  and  opportunities  in  the  present.  This  Church  is  a 
reformed  church,  free  from  medieval  intolerance  and  superstition 
and  corruption.  At  a  time  when  some  irreconcilable  bigots  are 
trying  to  forget  the  name,  and  to  obscure  the  spirit  of  Protestant- 
ism, we  should  not  be  ashamed  that  we  have  had  martyrs  who 
died  to  secure  our  spiritual  liberties  and  to  dower  us  with  the 
freedom  that  is  in  Christ.  Gloucester  gave  us  the  Sunday  School, 
and  let  this  Church  never  forget,  that  among  Christ's  most  tender 

U 


and  most  insistent  commands,  this  is  one, — "Feed  my  lambs." 
Thank  God  for  all  the  Church  has  done  in  our  day  by  pleading 
the  spirit  of  Christ  in  behalf  of  the  physical  care  and  the  mental 
culture  and  the  spiritual  instruction,  and  the  legal  protection  of 
children.  But  children  are  only  one  class.  In  this,  as  in  every 
age,  the  Gospel  must  vindicate  itself  in  pointing  out  the  method 
to  right  the  wrongs  of  that  age.  To  glorify  God,  she  studies 
the  conditions  of  the  times  and  the  peoples,  and  directs  all  attain- 
able instrumentalities  for  human  advancement.  With  every  evil 
of  our  times,  Christianity  is  to  contend.  Not  now  does  theological 
controversy  screw  the  rack  and  light  the  fagot,  but  yet  selfishness 
puts  horrid  sufferings  on  countless  multitudes.  The  rapacious 
landlord  still  herds  the  poor  in  foul,  unhealthy  lodgings,  extorting 
the  last  farthing  of  rent ;  chartered  corporations  having  the  right 
to  transport  passengers  through  our  avenues,  crowd  men  and 
women  indecently.  Look  at  the  riotous  extravagance  of  the  very 
rich  in  face  of  a  wide-spread  poverty  which  hurries  a  father  to 
suicide  and  the  tender  children  to  crushing  hours  of  labor !  The 
Church  of  God  must  war  against  human  pride,  ostentation  and 
indifference  to  our  brothers'  sufferings.  It  is  the  Church's  duty 
to  save  women  from  excessive  toil  in  factories ;  to  provide  for 
pensioning  worthy  workers ;  to  punish  cruelty  to  animals.  Just 
as  black  slavery  has  been  ended  and  the  trafiic  made  everywhere 
abominable,  so  white  slavery  must  have  the  light  of  a  national 
indignation  flashed  upon  it.  Let  Gloucester  bid  us  be  up  and 
doing  in  presence  of  every  social  injustice!  Let  the  soul  of 
John  Hooper  march  on !  Let  each  Christian  feel  that  in  sacred 
energy  and  not  in  ignoble  sloth,  lies  his  duty. 

Learn  from  Hereford  that  the  Church  is  to  continue  to  preach 
a  Gospel  of  peace, — peace  betwen  the  penitent  sinner  and  a  recon- 
ciled God;  peace  through  divine  grace  in  all  life's  troubles;  peace 
in  the  household ;  peace  among  brethren ;  peace  between  Capital 
and  Labor;  peace  through  the  world.  Let  us  have  in  America 
what  Europe  in  the  age  of  the  builders  of  Hereford  did  not  know, 
concord  between  the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  employer  and  the   workman.     What   our  socially  distressed 

10 


age  needs  is  a  preaching  not  of  charity,  but  of  justice, — not  of 
pauperism  but  of  love.  Dives  and  Lazarus  must  be  brought 
together  on  terms  of  equaUty  and  in  a  sincere  friendship.  The 
Church  must  address  herself  to  heal  the  wounds  of  industrial 
strife.  She  must  plunge  into  the  black,  swift  river  of  economic 
injustice. 

So  Hereford  pleads  for  the  peace  of  the  world,  for  universal 
arbitration,  and  for  the  abolition  of  war.  The  battlings  of 
armies  are  as  absurd  as,  and  far  more  wicked  than,  duels  between 
men.  The  Church  of  God  in  arguing  for  peace  sees,  by  faith, 
the  realization  of  the  convictions  of  great  thinkers  like  Penn  and 
Kant  and  Channing,  and  of  the  dreams  of  prophets  like  Isaiah 
and  Micah.  We  rejoice  as  we  place  this  Hereford  fragment  in 
the  last  days  of  1910  because  this  very  month  humanity  advances 
far  on  the  road  to  universal  arbitration.  President  Taft  has 
just  said: 

"If  we  can  negotiate  and  put  thru  a  positive  agreement  with 
some  great  nation  to  abide  by  the  adjudication  of  an  international 
arbitral  court  in  every  issue  which  cannot  be  settled  by  negotia- 
tions no  matter  what  it  involves,  whether  honor,  territory  or 
money,  we  shall  have  made  a  long  step  forward  by  demonstrating 
that  it  is  possible,  for  two  nations  at  least,  to  establish  as  between 
them  the  same  system  of  due  process  of  law  that  exists  between 
individuals  under  a  government." 

Let  the  voice  of  this  Pulpit  be  ever  for  Peace !  It  is  for  wars 
past  and  for  wars  to  come  that  three-quarters  of  our  terrible 
taxes  are  levied.  War,  as  one  of  the  greatest  generals  of  modern 
times  said,  "War  is  hell."  Sir  Edward  Grey's  warning  must  be 
heeded  by  all. 

"Unless  the  incongruity  and  mischief  of  all  this  be  brought 
home  not  only  to  the  heads  of  men  generally  but  to  their  feelings 
as  well,  so  that  they  resent  the  inconsistency  and  realize  the 
danger  of  this  tremendous  expenditure,  the  rivalry  will  continue 
and  it  must  in  the  long  run  break  down  civilization.  You  are 
having  this  great  burden  piled  up  in  times  of  peace  and  if  it  goes 
on  increasing  by  leaps  and  bounds  as  it  has  done  in  the  last 

11 


generation  it  will  become  intolerable.  There  are  those  who  think 
that  it  will  lead  to  war  precisely  because  it  is  already  becoming 
intolerable.  I  think  it  much  more  likely  that  the  burden  will  be 
dissipated  by  an  internal  revolution,  by  a  revolt  of  the  masses 
of  men  against  taxation." 

How  much  better  to  do  as  a  matter  of  high  principle,  as  ready 
obedience  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  which  the  very  necessities  of  the 
case  will  surely  demand  at  some  not  distant  day !  May  St.  Mark's 
throw  its  influence  on  the  side  of  the  Prince  of  Peace ! 

Let  Canterbury  serve  as  an  expression  of  the  central  power 
and  dignity  of  Anglicism,  and  as  a  suggestion  of  the  world-wide 
unity  of  the  Catholic  Church.  That  tile  has  indeed  its  memories 
of  courage  even  unto  death  in  defense  of  truth,  but  it  teaches  the 
yet  sublimer  lesson  of  a  universal  sympathy  with  our  Christian 
brethren,  and  of  the  responsibilities  of  each  believer  everywhere 
for  the  spread  of  the  Truth  that  Jesus  Christ  proclaimed.  We 
ought  to  strive  for  the  devotion  of  a  Becket  and  for  the  Unity 
which  should  reach  much  farther  than  does  the  authority  of 
Canterbury.  "Neither  for  these  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them 
also  that  believe  on  me  through  their  word ;  that  they  all  may 
be  one ;  even  as  thou  Father  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  in  us :  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  didst 
send  me." 

Last  of  all,  Westminster  Abbey  is  at  once  the  spot  where, 
thru  centuries,  kings  and  queens  have  received  their  crowns 
and  sceptres,  and  where  at  length  their  bodies  have  been  brought 
in  death.  Here  are  the  tombs  of  famous  poets,  orators,  states- 
men, discoverers,  philanthropists.  Here  are  centred  the  most 
glorious  traditions  of  English  history.  The  influences  that  dig- 
nify, the  memories  that  inspire,  and  the  emotions  that  move  human 
hearts,  are  all  clustered  about  this  magnificent  pile.  Westminster 
grandly  lifts  before  the  world  a  golden  banner,  on  whose  ample 
folds  is  emblazoned  a  cross  with  the  device,  "In  this  thou  shalt 
conquer."  Those  blackened  arches,  written  over  with  mighty 
names,  invest  humanity  with  the  highest  dignity  and  splendor. 
That  which  glorifies  Westminster,  offers  this,  and  every  church 

12 


a  like  splendor.  More  tlian  ever  before,  this  world  needs  the 
Gospel,  not  as  a  symbol  of  aestheticisni,  nor  as  a  system  of 
philosophy,  but  as  a  leaven  of  righteousness.  This  particular 
parish  has  been  called  of  God  to  set  forth  in  this  definite  locality, 
that  Truth  which  includes  all  other  truths,  which  speaks  of  God 
in  His  dealings  with  man,  and  of  man  in  his  duties  toward  God 
and  all  his  brethren.  Christianity  sounds  every  depth  of  man's 
ethical  and  spiritual  needs  in  this  life,  and  lifts  life  to  utmost 
power  by  bringing  into  prominence  the  hopes  and  fears  which 
look  out  on  eternity.  Yonder  graceful  fragment,  broken  from  an 
ancient  wall,  points  this  church  and  all  humanity  to  the  spiritual 
place  of  Manhood's  coronation  at  the  hands  of  our  Great  High 
Priest.  He  that  asks  when,  and  whereby  shall  mankind  enter 
into  the  royal  inheritance  of  culture,  happiness  and  glory,  must 
kneel  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  may  sum  up  the  teachings  of  these  five  stones  in  two 
words.  Liberty  and  Catholicity : — the  Liberty  that  means  Activity 
for  God,  and  the  Catholicity  that  means  Universal  Love.  Each 
must  work.  Our  effect  as  a  Christian  Church  upon  this  com- 
munity depends  on  our  individual  fidelity  to  Christ.  Every  man 
must  do  his  duty.  Not  a  child  in  the  Sunday  School  can  be 
exempted.  Mass  in  final  analysis  is  atomic.  The  danger  in 
all  social  institutions  is  loss  of  individual  responsibility.  As  this 
makes  democracy  a  delusion,  so  it  renders  worship  a  mockery. 
A  congregation  is  the  grandest  thing  on  this  side  of  heaven, 
only  when  each  heart  lifts  to  that  God  who  is  a  Spirit,  true  adora- 
tion. We  are  not  to  lose  the  sense  of  personality  in  the  rapture 
of  anthems  from  a  thousand  throats.  With  sympathy,  each 
soul  must  feel  itself  in  the  presence  of  God.  Is  it  not  so  every- 
where? Here  is  a  board  of  bank  directors.  Let  each  for  the 
welfare  of  the  bank,  meet  each  question  with  his  own  individual 
ideas  of  propriety  and  honesty  and  justice.  The  bank  director 
who  sinks  his  own  conscience  in  the  board's  conscience,  betrays 
his  conception  of  right.  Here  is  an  army.  The  soldier  is  a 
coward  and  traitor  who  says, — The  rest  are  brave ;  I  can  hide 
behind   a  tree.     The  church  attendant  who  lets  others  do  the 

18 


praying  and  receiving  the  Communion,  is  a  hyprocite.  Draw  near 
yourself  to  God.  Act  for  yourself.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  has 
somewhere  said:  "To  know  what  you  prefer,  instead  of  humbly 
saying  Amen  to  what  the  world  tells  you  you  ought  to  prefer, 
is  to  have  kept  your  soul  alive."  Show  energy  for  Jesus  Christ ! 
God  forbid  we  should  be  dead  stones !  If  we  say  our  Creed  com- 
placently without  feeling  it  necessary  to  understand  the  Creed 
and  to  spread  acceptance  of  the  Creed,  we  are  lifeless  stones ;  if 
we  talk  about  "our  beautiful  service"  and  stay  away 
from  its  public  rendering  whenever  we  find  it  inconvenient 
to  go,  we  are  motionless  stones ;  if  we  feel  called  on 
to  make  no  effort  whatever  to  give  that  beautiful  service 
to  the  neglected  of  our  own  city  and  the  heathen  in  other 
lands,  we  are  cold  stones ;  if  we  hear  of  the  troubles  of  others  by 
sickness,  poverty  and  vice,  and  yet  feel  called  on  to  deny  ourselves 
nothing,  to  make  no  contribution  to  our  brother's  necessity,  we 
are  bloodless  stones ;  if  we  would  rather  go  to  a  club  or  a  carnival 
or  a  bridge  whist,  or  a  theatre  or  a  dance,  than  to  give  that  evening 
to  some  poor  sufferer,  we  have  hearts  of  stone ;  if  we  busy  our- 
selves about  religion  and  relief  only  when  we  can  do  so  without 
troubling  ourselves,  without  sacrificing  our  comfort  or  our  money, 
we  are  no  softer  than  a  stone ;  if  we  know  of  a  parish  where 
many  people  of  this  easy,  luxurious,  contented  sort  can  be 
found,  then  we've  got  a  whited  sepulchre,  fair  without  but  full 
of  dead  men's  bones.  The  great  question  for  a  modern  Church 
is  this:  Can  these  dead  stones  live?  Bishop  Gailor  says  that 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  America  is  endeavoring  to  carry  a 
greater  mass  of  dead  timber,  than  can  be  found  in  any  other 
branch  of  Christendom.  Let  us  as  living  stones  be  built  up  into 
a  spiritual  house.  Go  to  work,  in  the  name  of  God !  Too  much 
have  Christians  thought  of  the  care  they  must  take  of  their  own 
souls.  The  doctrine  of  personal  salvation  has  lodged  itself  in 
morbid  minds.  Better  stop  asking,  "What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  and  ask,  with  the  humble  heart,  "Who  is  my  neighbor?' 
and  listen  to  the  voice  that  says, — "Thou  shalt  not  abhor  an 
Edomite ;  for  he  is  thy  brother." 

14 


So  \vc  come  face  to  face  with  our  other  truth,  the  sense  of 
the  CathoHcity  of  the  Church  which  binds  us  in  a  spirit  of  Love 
to  every  soul.  Let  our  ideas  here  in  St.  Mark's  soar  above  narrow 
parochial,  diocesan,  national  boundaries  to  the  conception  of  one 
Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,  comprehensive  of  every 
truth  and  activity  that  belongs  to  any  of  the  scattered  parts, 
united,  as  Christ  is  one  with  the  Father.  As  we  pray  in  this 
beautiful  building,  let  us  look  toward  these  stones  and  realize 
something  of  our  Lord's  meaning.  "Other  sheep  I  have  which 
are  not  of  this  fold :  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear 
my  voice;  and  they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd"  (St. 
John,  10:16).  Overcome  the  common  temptation  to  despise 
Christians  of  other  names,  or  to  belittle  or  to  ignore  their  work. 
As  we  think  of  Greek  and  Latin  Christians,  and  of  many  a  scat- 
tered church,  and  of  many  a  company  of  those  who  differ  from 
ourselves  and  yet  believe  and  call  themselves  Christians,  and 
consider  their  organizations  to  be  true  Churches,  let  us  remember 
those  other  words  of  Christ.  When  the  beloved  disciple  told  how 
he  had  been  perplexed  as  they  saw  one  casting  out  demons  in 
Christ's  name  who  yet  followed  not  with  the  disciples,  and  how 
it  had  seemed  right  to  forbid  him,  Jesus  said,  "Forbid  him  not: 
for  there  is  no  man  who  shall  do  a  mighty  work  in  my  name, 
and  be  able  quickly  to  speak  evil  of  me.  For  he  that  is  not 
against  us  is  for  us"  (St.  Mark,  9:38).  The  churches  need 
more  sympathy  between  the  people,  a  closer  bond  of  interest. 
Of  the  Bell  Telephone  System  it  is  said  that  they  have  four 
million  five  thousand  telephones  that  can  be  instantly  connected 
with  any  of  the  others.  I  like  the  words  that  describe  the  method 
that  they  employ.  They  call  it  inter-connection  and  inter-com- 
munication, the  one  depending  on  the  other.  The  people  in  all 
the  churches  need  to  be  inter-connected  by  Christ's  great  secret 
of  love,  and  when  once  this  subtle  and  universal  touch  has  been 
given,  we  need  the  recurring  inter-communication  through  all  the 
ramifying  lines  of  Christendom.  How  foolish  for  us  instead, 
to  render  another  illustration  of  Christ's  truth,  that  the  children 
of  this  world  are  in  their  generation  wiser  than  the  children  of 

15 


light.  We  want  the  seamless  robe  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  should 
find  in  the  incident  of  this  day,  food  for  abundant  thought.  As 
these  distant  and  famous  churches  may  be  said  to  give  something 
of  their  strength  to  these  walls,  so  the  life  of  the  whole  Church 
must  partake  of  the  life  of  each  of  the  members.  The  fragments 
of  a  broken  Christendom  must  contribute  to  a  new  vitality.  Into 
the  perfect  Church  of  the  future,  each  local  and  national  church 
will  bring  its  own  special  character  and  excellence.  Into  this 
Holy  City  yet  to  be  builded,  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  will  bring 
each  its  own  glory.  Catholicity  will  be  all  inclusive,  while  differ- 
ences in  method  and  varieties  of  spirit  will  be  lost  in  the  blazing 
splendor  of  Perfect  Love. 

The  intense,  incisive  question  rings  in  our  ears,  "What  mean 
ye  by  these  stones  ?'"  Shall  not  the  whole  body  of  our  parishioners 
reply,  We  will  pledge  our  lives,  our  strength  and  our  resources 
to  perpetuate  in  the  life  of  ages,  this  Parish  of  St.  Mark;  we  will 
carry  on  this  church  in  loyalty  to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints ;  we  will  show  gratitude  for  the  liberties  won  by  the 
advancing  kingdom  of  God,  from  the  cramping  influence  of 
prejudice  and  from  the  malevolence  of  bigotry ;  we  will  maintain 
a  church  descended  from  the  apostles  and  now  planting  herself 
on  the  rock  of  faith  in  Christ  and  utilizing  all  modern  progress 
to  evangelize  the  world  of  today. 


16 


',    PHOTOMOUNT 
'  PAMPHLET  BINDER 

'         Manu/aclured  ky 
',  ©AYLORD  BROS.  I»c 
«  Syrtcut*,  N.  t. 

SlocWton,  C»li<. 


